The birth of John the Baptist - 10 Dec 2017

“The Birth of the Forerunner”

Luke 1:39-45, 57-66 (Advent Message at SBC, Sligo IE)

9 December 2017

INTRODUCTION:

            Last Sunday Matthew led us through a study of the first part of Luke chapter 1 in which we revisited the angelic announcements to Zacharias, and to Mary. We read how the angel, Gabriel, was sent by God to bring good news to Zacharias, the priest, while he was ministering in the Temple that in response to their prayers he and his wife, Elizabeth, would have a son, a very special son whom they were to name “John,” and that he would be the promised Forerunner of the Messiah in fulfillment of Malachi’s prophecy found in 4:5-6. Matthew shared with us how that Zacharias doubted the angel’s message due to his and his wife’s advanced age and, as a result, was struck dumb until the birth of the child should be accomplished.

            We also learned how that same angel of the Lord, Gabriel, was sent to Nazareth in Galilee to speak to Mary, a young virgin, betrothed to a good and righteous man named Joseph, to tell her that she had been chosen by God to be the human instrument to bring the Messiah into the world. Her response, however, was different from Zacharias’ in that she did not doubt, did not waver in her faith but offered herself up to do the Lord’s will, just as it had been told her by the angel. In Luke 1:30ff we read:

The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God. ³¹ And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. ³² He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; ³³ and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.” ³⁴ Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” ³⁵ The angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God. ³⁶ And behold, even your relative Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age; and she who was called barren is now in her sixth month. ³⁷ For nothing will be impossible with God.” ³⁸ And Mary said, “Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.

TRANSITION:

            Mary’s response is even more remarkable when you consider that she was a young girl, probably 15 or 16 years-old, and had never had physical relations with any man, even with Joseph, the man to whom she was engaged. And by way of an aside, you need to understand something about Jewish betrothal customs. In our day people break their engagements with some regularity. They decide for one reason or another that they have made a terrible mistake and they give the ring back, mumbling an apology and words to the effect that “I hope you find someone else to marry because you deserve the very best. Blah blah blah.” However, in Mary’s time a betrothal was a very serious matter. It meant that her parents had already entered into a contractual arrangement with Joseph and his family for her to become Joseph’s wife. At this stage the only things that were lacking were the ceremony and the physical consummation of the marriage. To break the betrothal required an actual bill of divorcement.

            So now put yourself in Mary’s shoes for a moment. She has just found out that she is to become pregnant by miraculous means, something that she does not understand at all. Yet she submits her will to God, and chooses to trust Him to work out the details of her future marriage to Joseph, if indeed that will ever happen now. She knew that she would be seen in her village as a tainted girl of loose morals, and people would believe the worst. She had no idea how she would explain this story to her parents, much less to Joseph. When you stop to think about it, the enormity of her faith and submission to God is amazing.

            Now, this morning, we pick up the story in verse 39 of Luke chapter 1.

MAIN BODY:

Verses 39-45: ³⁹ Now at this time Mary arose and went in a hurry to the hill country, to a city of Judah, ⁴⁰ and entered the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth. ⁴¹ When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. ⁴² And she cried out with a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! ⁴³ And how has it happened to me, that the mother of my Lord would come to me? ⁴⁴ For behold, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped in my womb for joy. ⁴⁵ And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her by the Lord.” 

• We do not know exactly where Zacharias and Elizabeth lived but it was in one of the villages not far from Jerusalem because Zacharias was a priest and his duties were at the Temple. Why do you think it says, “…and Mary went with haste”? I believe it was because she was anxious to see with her own eyes if what the angel had said to her about Elizabeth in verse 36 was really true, for this would be a confirmation that it was not all just a dream, but was really happening!
• As Mary entered the house, the baby in Elizabeth’s womb reacted immediately, jumping with joy, and Elizabeth took that as a sign that something miraculous was happening. Moreover, Luke tells us that in that moment Elizabeth was “filled with the Holy Spirit.” And under the Spirit’s leading she made some amazing statements. Look again at verse 42: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!” That was almost word-for-word what the angel had said to Mary. How did Elizabeth know about Mary’s pregnancy, and beyond that, how did she know who that child would be? Even more amazing is her statement in verse 43: “And how has it happened to me, that the mother of my Lord would come to me?” That is a remarkable confession! You see, God has revealed to Elizabeth that Mary was carrying the Christ Child, the Promised One, the Messiah, who would be the Redeemer of Israel. Then in verse 45, again under the moving of the Holy Spirit, Elizabeth pronounces a blessing on Mary because of her faith and submission to the will of God: “And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her by the Lord.” 
• Mary’s heart must have swelled with joy at hearing her kinswoman, Elizabeth, confirm what the angel had told her, that indeed, she was carrying in her womb the Christ Child, Jesus, who would save His people from their sins. She must have been overwhelmed with awe to realize that she was unique among all other women. She understood that this was a once-in-history thing that was occurring, and she had been favored by the Lord above all others to give birth to the Saviour of the world.
• One of my favorite contemporary songs of Christmas is entitled, “Mary, Did You Know?” Written by Mark Lowry and Buddy Greene, it poses questions to Mary about Jesus, shortly after she has given birth to Him. Listen to the lyrics:

1. Mary did you know that your baby boy will one day walk on water?

Mary did you know that your baby boy will save our sons and daughters?

Did you know that your baby boy has come to make you new?

This Child that you’ve delivered, will soon deliver you.

2. Mary did you know that your baby boy will give sight to a blind man?

Mary did you know that your baby boy will calm a storm with His hand?

Did you know that your baby boy has walked where angels trod?

And when you kiss your little baby, you have kissed the face of God.

Chorus: The blind will see, the deaf will hear, and the dead will live again.

The lame will leap, the dumb will speak the praises of the Lamb.

3. Mary did you know that your baby boy is Lord of all creation?

Mary did you know that your baby boy will one day rule the nations?

Did you know that your baby boy is Heaven’s perfect Lamb?

This sleeping child you’re holding is the great I AM.

• On that day, there in the house of Elizabeth, Mary did not know most of these things. She did not know that the baby she was carrying had come from Heaven to die. She did not know that He would one day be nailed to a Roman cross or that He would rise on the third day. She did not know about the terrible pain she would one day suffer because of her love for Him. For now, she was just a happy young girl content to trust God and take one day at a time.

Verse 56: “And Mary stayed with [Elizabeth] about three months, and then returned to her home.”   

• I am curious about this because Elizabeth was 6-months pregnant when Mary went to stay with her. So now she has stayed 3 more months, putting her at the very end of Elizabeth’s pregnancy. Did Mary stay for the birth? The text does not tell us, but that is one possibility. Perhaps after helping Elizabeth get settled in to her new routine with the new baby, Mary felt free to head on back home to Nazareth. And remember, by that time Mary was three-months pregnant herself, which made John six-months older than his cousin, Jesus. The other possibility is that Mary left before Elizabeth gave birth. We simply do not know the answer.

Verses 57-58: Now the time had come for Elizabeth to give birth, and she gave birth to a son. ⁵⁸ Her neighbors and her relatives heard that the Lord had displayed His great mercy toward her; and they were rejoicing with her. 

• Elizabeth and Zacharias were probably well known to their neighbors. The fact that he was a priest would have made him stand out in the community. And you know how it is in a small village; everyone seems to know everything about everybody—the good, the bad, and the ugly.
• So, when Elizabeth gave birth it was undoubtedly the talk of the village. Here this old couple, after years of wanting a child, after pleading with God for decades to the point of despair, receive a healthy bouncing baby boy. Everything about this birth was miraculous and everybody knew it. These kinds of things simply didn’t happen! So, the whole community celebrated the birth of this miracle child, wondering what kind of man he might turn out to be.

Verses 59-62: And it happened that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to call him Zacharias, after his father. ⁶⁰ But his mother answered and said, “No indeed; but he shall be called John.” ⁶¹ And they said to her, “There is no one among your relatives who is called by that name.” ⁶² And they made signs to his father, as to what he wanted him called. 

• Here is a question…how did Elizabeth know what the baby’s name should be? Zacharias had been unable to say a word since that day in the Temple when he met the angel of the Lord. I think verse 63 gives us the answer. Apparently, Zacharias had been using a tablet to communicate with Elizabeth and had painstakingly told her the whole story of that divine encounter. And for 9 months they had both had time to contemplate the significance of the birth of this child. I imagine that they had reread the prophecies many times. Isaiah 40:3, “A voice is calling, ‘Clear the way for the Lord in the wilderness. Make smooth in the desert a highway for our God.” Then, of course, there was Malachi 3:1, “Behold, I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His Temple; and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, ‘Behold, He is coming,’ says the Lord of hosts.” And finally, Malachi 4:5-6, the closing words of Malachi that foretold the appearing of this one who would pave the way for the coming of Messiah: “Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord. ⁶ He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and smite the land with a curse.” All these passages were clearly understood by the Jewish people to refer to one who would go before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah.

Verse 63: And he asked for a tablet and wrote as follows, “His name is John.” And they were all astonished. 

• So, finally the time had come. Everyone had expected that the couple would name their firstborn, “Zacharias” after the custom of the people. But Elizabeth was adamant that the child would be named “John.” Now all eyes turned to the father, expecting that he would overrule his wife. As he took the tablet in hand and started to write they probably all leaned in to see what he was writing. To their surprise, Zacharias wrote: “His name is John!” The text says that they were all astonished at his answer.

Verses 64-66: And at once his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he began to speak in praise of God. ⁶⁵ Fear came on all those living around them; and all these matters were being talked about in all the hill country of Judea. ⁶⁶ All who heard them kept them in mind, saying, “What then will this child turn out to be?” For the hand of the Lord was certainly with him. 

• I love this! After not being able to speak for nine months suddenly Zacharias’ tongue was loosed, just like the angel had foretold, and the first words out of his mouth were joyful praise to God. How those words must have been building up inside him! Now, like a dam bursting, he could not hold back his joy and gratitude to God, not only for the fact that he and Elizabeth finally had the child for whom they had so long prayed, but also for the fact that their son, this little baby boy, would be the one who would clear the way for the coming of Messiah, the Redeemer of Israel, the Saviour of the world.
• Notice the reaction of the people: “Fear came on all those living around them; and all these matters were being talked about in all the hill country of Judea.” Fear is a natural human reaction to things we do not understand. So is gossip. The birth of this child became the topic of conversation in every home, in the market, and in the streets. People could not help wondering, “What then will this child turn out to be?” And people never stopped asking that question. The last sentence of verse 66 is Luke’s editorial note: “For the hand of the Lord was certainly with him.” That, by the way, is an understatement.
• Later, in Matthew 11:7-15, we have the testimony of Jesus himself concerning John the Baptist: As these men were going away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John, “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? ⁸ But what did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Those who wear soft clothing are in kings’ palaces! ⁹ But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and one who is more than a prophet. ¹⁰ This is the one about whom it is written, ‘Behold, I send My messenger ahead of You, who will prepare Your way before You.’ ¹¹ Truly I say to you, among those born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist!… ¹³ For all the prophets and the Law prophesied until John. ¹⁴ And if you are willing to accept it, John himself is Elijah who was to come. ¹⁵ He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

CONCLUSION:

            The story of John’s birth is an integral part of the Christmas story. In a way it is no less miraculous than the birth of Jesus himself. And as John grew to manhood God was preparing him for his role as the Forerunner of Messiah, the Christ. Luke 1:80 sums up this time of preparation: “And the child continued to grow and to become strong in spirit, and he lived in the deserts until the day of his public appearance in Israel.” Thirty years would elapse before John and Jesus would come face-to-face. It would be on the banks of the Jordan River when Jesus went down to be baptized by John. When John saw Him approaching he pointed to Jesus and uttered those immortal words: “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”

            Christmas is about the coming of Jesus. It is about God becoming a man so that He might give His life for your sins and mine. If you do not know Him today, if you have never put your faith and trust in Him as your Saviour and your Lord, what better time could there be? Open your heart today and believe. And you will receive the best Christmas gift anyone could ever receive, the gift of eternal life!